India is a land of incredible diversities in ethnic, regional, linguistic, economic, tribal and caste groups permeated with immense urban-rural differences and gender distinctions. Amid this astounding variety and hierarchical society, the unity and integrity among the citizens of myriad enhance the social harmony.
Our country is particularly famous for its complex, multifaceted social systems. It is an amalgamation of people belonging to different castes like Hindu, Muslim, and other religious communities like Buddhists, Christians, and Jews.
Due to the vast differences in the socio-economic status in India, individuals are often ranked according to their wealth and power in most villages or towns. Hierarchy plays a significant role in social structures and kinship systems in the north and the south.
Elements of Diversity in India
The term diversity mainly refers to multiplicity or variety in groups and cultures owing to differences in races, languages, cultures, religions, and castes. The various elements of diversity are:
Language diversity: India is home to close to 22 languages enlisted by the Constitution of India including Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and many more that have evolved over centuries.
Hindi is recognized as the official language by the constitution while Telugu is the second largest language spoken by 60 million people in India. The linguistic diversity provides a colourful blend to the country.
Religious diversity
India is a secular country where people have the right to follow any religion. Over the centuries, many people from across the world migrated and settled in India, bringing more religions like Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and contributing to the religious diversity of the country.
Regional diversity
It mainly refers to the diversity in ethnicity, communities, gender, and more. India has a rich topographical variation ranging from the snow-clad Himalayas and plain fertile lands in the north, to arid lands in the west to the coastal plains of the south. Thus, regional identity is a combination of both geographical and cultural identities.
Caste diversity
The major status differences in India arise out of castes which are hierarchically ranked in different regions in different ways and the behaviour is mostly shaped by this knowledge. In the past, the caste categories were hereditary and determined by specific occupations. However, with the growing urbanization, the influence of caste has somewhat declined especially in metropolitan cities.
Racial diversity
A race is defined as a group of people with a set of distinctive, inherited features like skin, hair, height, colour, type of eyes, etc. India has a large number of races chiefly migrated from the eastern and western directions.
Importance of Diversity and Its Threats to the Social Structure
The term ‘Unity in Diversity' refers to a concept of ‘unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation and is used as an expression of harmony between individuals or groups belonging to different backgrounds following different practices.
It highlights the understanding that differences enrich human interactions and mainly focuses on respecting and accepting the traditions to safeguard the uniqueness of every diverse element.
The motto of Unity in Diversity can be best understood from the following perspectives that are as follows:
- The diversity of caste or Casteism: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisyas, and Shudras.
- The diversity of community or Communalism: the Hindus, the Muslims, etc.
- The diversity of regions or Regionalism: Telugu, Odia, Marathi, Gujarati, etc.
Unity in diversity is important for a multitude of reasons such as integrating the nation, maintaining peace and harmony within the country, treading the path of development, setting an example of values and morals on a global scale, and for the peaceful coexistence among all.
However, several threats stemming from casteism, regionalism, extremism, sectarianism often lead to violence, fierce riots in several parts of the country, violation of basic human rights, denial of justice, and political marginalization. With greater diversity emerge larger problems.
Due to the hierarchy and distribution of power in society, backward or unprivileged people have been socially and economically exploited for several centuries. These threatening situations disturb the peace and national integrity and pose a grave danger to the sanctity of the nation.
Though diversity is essential in enabling individuals to come together and make a strong community, it has created a sense of disparity in Indian society.
The Concept of National Integration
National integration is the awareness of a common identity among the citizens without any difference on the grounds of religion, language, or race. It is the feeling of oneness, one nation, and one country, and refers to a sense of territorial nationality that overshadows subordinate parochial loyalties.
This kind of integration is important to keep our freedom secure, break the walls of provincialism, avoid internal strife, face foreign aggression triumphantly and maintain the sovereignty of the nation.India observes ‘National Integration Day' on 19th November, the birth anniversary of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The National Integration Conference was convened by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in September-October 1961 in order to find ways to combat the evils of communalism, casteism, regionalism, linguism, extremism, and to formulate a definitive conclusion to give direction to the country.
The basic factors of national integration are ideological unity and awareness about national objectives. However, imbibing the values of national integration is a herculean task but not impossible in a country like India where communal, religious conflicts harm the secular fabric.
Barriers Created by Caste and Ethnicity
The disparity in the economic development of the country gives rise to two kinds of situations. One where the more prosperous ethnic groups consider others relatively backward as liabilities and try to suppress them. Second where the economically backward groups blame the other ethnic groups for their economic deprivation.
This leads to hatred and ethnic conflicts among various groups hampering the process of national integration.
Measures of Achieving National Integration in India
Some of the ways to promote and ensure national integration are provisions in the Constitution of India, government initiatives, observance of national festivals and respect to national symbols, eradication of terrorism, keeping regionalism and separatism within the nation in check, equal distribution of national income, etc.
Other effective measures include the welfare of minority communities, preventing communal and sectarian outlook, and promoting national integrity through mass media.
Political Changes in India
The political trends since Independence have been predominantly articulated by regional interest groups, for example, the linguistic formation of states in the political realm. The structure mainly consists of the interrelationship of political roles and processes, prevailing attitudes, and beliefs concerning the political system.
The sphere of politics involves all those activities, institutions, and processes with the implementation of authoritative policy and achievement of collective goals. Thus, political modernization refers to the differentiation of and secularization of political structure that improves the capacity and performance of the society’s political system.
Such modernization can be viewed from historical, typological as well as evolutionary perspectives.
Written by – Aishwarya Khandekar
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